Writing implement with yieldably supported scribing element



J n 9, 53 c. R. PATTERSON WRITING IMPLEMENT WITH YIELDABLY SUPPORTED SCRIBING ELEMENT Filed March 24, I950 Inventor A from ev Patented June 9, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRITING IMPLEMENT WITH'YIELDABLY' SUPPORTED SCRIBING. ELEMENT Clyde R. Patterson, Riverside, Calif.

Application- March 24, 1950, SerialNo.. 151,690

Claims. (01. 120-9) This invention relates to a novel construction of writing implement such as a pen or pencil having the scribingelement which is reciprocally mounted relatively to the body portion or barrel which is held in the handso that'a' uniform and proper pressure will exist at all times on the point or end of the scribing'element which'engages the paper to prevent an excess'pressure on said point or end.

Among the primary advantages of thepresent invention is to provide a writing implement wherein the writing will be of uniform shade irrespective of the pressure exerted by the hand holding the implement in urging it toward the paper or other surface engaged by the writing point or end and which will thereby provide a writing implement wherein the point or writing end will float freely and easily across the paper and thus relieve all strain on the hand of the writer holding the implement and resulting writers cramp.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a writing implement which is capable of being readily adjusted to vary the yieldable tension on the writing end or point to accommodate the instrument to writers using different pressures when writing.

A particularly important object of the present invention is to provide a yieldable mounting especially adapted for use for resiliently mount,- ing the ink cartridge of ball point pens to prevent an excess pressure being applied on the moved from the paper by the ball and as a result when too much pressure is thus exerted on such pen the writing has a tendency to fade, resulting in an uneven and unsightly appearance.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating one presently preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view illustrating the invention embodied in a ball point-type pen;

Figure 2 is a central sectional view, partly in sideelevati'on thereof and on an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of the writing implement housing or barrel;

Figure 4 is a similar view of the ink cartridge guide;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view thereof taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view; partly in section of the ink cartridge;

Figure 7 is an end elevational view thereof looking from left to right of Figure 6, and

FigureS is an end elevational view of the assembled writing implement looking from left to right of Figures 1 and 2..

Referring more specifically to, the drawing, the writing implement in its entirety and which has herein been illustrated as a ballpoint-type pen is designated generally ill and includes a barrel or housing I l which is preferably circular in cross section to provide a relatively large chamber l2. The barrel H has an open forward end which is internally restricted by an internal enlargement 53 thereof and is provided at its opposite end with a rear end wall M which is shown provided with a central opening [5.

An ink cartridge guide, designated generally I6 has a bore H of circular cross section and uniform diameter extending from end-to-end thereof. The guide [6 includes a relatively long tubular end. I8 and forwardly thereof is provided with an externally enlarged portion or collar IS. The forward end of the guide I6, which is disposed beyond and forwardly of the collar 19 constitutes afrusto-conical portion 29 having a large rear end located adjacent the forward end of the collar 19 and combining therewith to form an annular rearwardly facing shoulder 2|. The forward endof the frusto-conical portion 20 is preferably smaller in diameter than the collar IS. The tube portion N3 of the guide It is adapted tofit loosely in the chamber I2 and is held substantially concentric to the barrel l by the collar 19 which engages snugly in the restricted open forward end of the barrel H, defined by the internal enlargement l3. The shoulder 2| seats aganist the open forward end of the barrel ll so that the frusto-conical portion 20 of the guide l6 forms a tapered extension of the forward end of the barrel H, as clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The tube [8 at its opposite, rear end is provided with diametrically aligned longitudinally extending slots 22 which preferably open outwardly of the rear end of the tube l8.

An ink cartridge, designated generally 23 includes a tube 24 which is longer than the ink cartridge guide It and which is reciprocally and cletachably disposed in the bore 11. The tube 24 is provided with a'frusto-conical shaped enlargement or head 25 at its forward end having a tapered bore 26 the enlarged end of which communicates with the forward end of the bore 21 of the tube 24 and the restricted, forward end of which opens into a socket 28 in the forward 3 end of the head and which socket 28 has a restricted open forward end, which opens outwardly of the forward end of said head 25. The socket 28 rotatably supports a small writing ball or sphere 29 more than one half of which is engaged by the socket 28 for rotatably but nondetachably supporting the ball 29 therein. The bore 21 and bore portion 26 are adapted to be filled with ink, not shown, which is fed to the sphere 29 in a conventional manner. The parts 24 to 29 and the ink cartridge 23, previously described are all of conventional construction and said ink cartridge differs from the conventional ink cartridge or ball point pen only in that it is provided adjacent its rear end with aligned openings 30 formed in the tube 24 for 'detaehably receiving a stop pin 31, the ends of which pro-.

ject outwardly from the outer surface of the tube 24. With the pin 3| removed, the ink cartridge tube 24 is applied to the bore ll before the ink cartridge guide I5 is applied to the barrel H, said tube 24 being inserted through the bore from its forward end. The openings 36 are then aligned with the slots 22 and the pin'3l is applied, asiIIustrated in Figure 2, so that its ends slidably engage the slotsv 22 to retain the ink cartridge 23 in the guide [6.

An adjustable spring stop, designated generally 32 is detachably mounted in the barrel chamber I2 at its rear end and includes a sleeve 33 having a threaded bore 34 extending longitudinally and centrally therethrough. A threaded stem 35 threadedly engages the bore 34 and extends from the inner end of the sleeve 33 and is provided at its inner end with a head or enlargement 36 having a substantially flat face against which engages one end of an expansion coiled spring 31. The opposite end of the spring 31 abuts against a disk 38 which is of substantially the same diameter as the head 36. The opposite 31 so that the writing ball 29 will have a floating support relatively to the barrel l I when in use. Thus, the ball 29 will be prevented from being pressed too hard against the paper and irrespective of the amount of pressure exerted thereon by the writer, will be maintained with the proper pressure against the paper so as to produce a free and even flow of ink from the ball 29 to the paper. Asa result, the writing will-be of a uniform shade and the tendency of the writing to fade will be eliminated. Furthermore, the floating support of the writing ball 29 on the paper writing implement I0 is in use and to accomside of the disk 38 bears against the rear end of the ink cartridge tube 24, which projects from the rear end of the guide tube 18. The opposite, outer end of the stem 35, which is disposed nor mally in the threaded bore 34 is provided with a kerf 39.

The sleeve 33 and head 36 are of an external diameter to pass through the restricted bore portion of the chamber l2 as defined by the internal enlargement l3 and are initially applied to the barrel H so that the outer end of the sleeve 33 bears against the barrel end [4. The spring 31 is then applied to the barrel II after which the disk 33 is applied, all as illustrated in Figure 2. If desired,the forward end of the spring 3'! may be secured to the follower disk 38 and the rear end of said spring may be secured to the face of the head 36 so that the spring and disk will form a unit with the stem 35. After theadjustable stop 32, spring 31 and followerdisk 38 have been applied, as illustrated in Figure 2, the ink cartridge guide 56, assembled with the ink cartridge 23, as previously described, is then applied to the barrel ll, forwardly of the disk 38, as illustrated in Figure 2. The spring 3'! will project the ink cartridge 23 forwardly of the ink cartridge guide I I6 so that the ink cartridge head 25 will be spaced from the forward end of the frusto-conical guide portion 26, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, Accordingly. when the ball 29 is applied to a sheet of paper or other surface for'writing, the pressure modate it to any degree of variation in pressure, the adjustable stop 32 is provided so that the tension onthe spring 31 may be increased .by turning the stem 35 relatively to the sleeve 33 to extendthe stem relatively to the sleeve for increasing the tension of the spring 31 or the stem may be retracted relatively to the sleeve for reducing the tension on the spring 31. The tension on the spring 31 would be increased where the writer employed a heavy pressure or diminished where the writer employed a relatively light pressure in writing. This adjustment of the stop 32 may be accomplished before it is applied to the barrel II or while removed therefrom and may also be accomplished while the parts are in their applied positions of Figure 2 by inserting a tool, not shown, such as a small screwdriver through the opening which aligns with the bore 34 to engage the kerf 39 and turn the stem 35 relatively to the sleeve 33. The frictional enagement of the sleeve 33 with the end wall [4 will permit the stem 35 to be turned in either direction relatively to said sleeve.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a scribing device including an elongated rigid reservoir having a writing point at one of its ends, of an elongated hollow barrel having an open forward end and an end wall at its opposite, rear end, an elongated guide secured in the open end of the barrel havinga tubular portion disposed within the barrel and spaced from the barrel Wall, vsaid scribing device extending slidably through the guide and projecting beyond the ends thereof, the writing point of the scribing device extending beyond and being spaced from a forward end of the guide and the forward end of the barrel, and spring follower means mounted in the barrel between its rear end wall and the rear end of the scribing device and bearing against said scribing device for yieldably urging it forwardly of the guide for resiliently supporting the writing point thereof relatively to the barrel and guide when in use.

2. A writing implement as in claim v1, said spring follower means comprising an expansion coiled spring, a disk disposed between one end of said spring and the adjacent, rear end of. the scribing element, and an adjustable spring stop formed of extensible end sections loosely disposed in the barrel between the opposite end of the spring'and the end wall of said barrel.

3.-A writing implement of the ball point pen type comprising an elongated hollow barrel having a rear end wall and an open forward end, an elongated ink cartridge guide detachably mounted in the barrel and having a restricted rear end portion disposed in and spaced from the barrel wall, said guide having a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, an ink cartridge having a tubular reservoir portion slidably mounted in and snugly fitting the guide bore and projecting beyond each end thereof and having a Writing ball or point mounted in one end thereof and disposed beyond and spaced from the forward end of the guide, and spring follower means mounted in the barrel bearing against its rear end wall and against the rear end of the ink cartridge tube and yieldably urging said tube forwardly of the guide for yieldably supporting the writing ball or point relatively to the guide and barrel when in use.

4. A writing implement as in claim 3, said spring follower means including an expansion coiled spring and an extensible spring stop loosely disposed in the barrel between the spring and the rear end wall of the barrel.

5. A writing implement as in claim 3, said spring follower means including an expansion coiled spring and an extensible spring stop loosely disposed in the barrel between the spring and the rear end wall of the barrel, said spring stop being formed of retractable and extensible sections for varying the tension on the spring.

CLYDE R. PATTERSON.

References Cited in the file of this atent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

